A Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Psalm 118 — Of the Excellence of Virtue Consisting in the Love and Observance of the Commandments of God
161 In the next octave the prophet calls attention to his perseverance in observing God’s law, and his desire of guarding against any backsliding therein. “Princes persecuted me without cause.” Saul persecuted me without any reason whatever, and he returned evil for good; so did his son Isboseth, who, with Abner as his general, waged a most uncalled for war against me; and so did my son Absalom, who sought to dethrone me, and reign in my stead. “And my heart hath been in awe of thy words.” Still, great as was the temptation, I did not consent to it, and I, therefore, did not injure them; for, I was “in awe of thy words,” and, therefore, I more than once spared Saul, avenged the death of Isboseth, and wept for Absalom; thus returning good for evil.
162 I have not only “been in awe of thy words,” but I have also loved them; and therefore, “I will rejoice at thy words” whenever I shall have occasion to observe them in the same spirit of him that rejoices on meeting with great booty after a signal victory. A most appropriate simile, because David was a warrior, used to battle; and because we have to fight fiercely with the evil spirit when we propose to observe God’s commandments; and when we do fight and conquer, we have prepared for us a crown of more value than any amount of spoil left behind by the enemy.
163 He again repeats his love for the law, and his hatred of iniquity, a proof positive of his love of him who gave the law, as the Lord himself says, “If you love me keep my commandments;” and further on, in Jn. 14, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” Happy soul, who could assert, with the Holy Ghost to bear him out in it, “I have hated iniquity, and loved thy law.”
164 And a great sign of love is the praising God repeatedly, on account of his judgments being most just, and his laws being the very essence of judgment. And though the number seven is only expressive of a considerable number, just as the text in Proverbs, “for a just man shall fall seven times;” that is to say, frequently; still the Church seems to have had some grounds for the institution of the seven canonical hours, partly alluded to in this passage. Being most desirous that her children should imitate this most holy king in his devotions, she decided that seven times in the day they should be required to praise God, which we do in the seven canonical hours, to which, if we add the eighth, indicated by “At midnight I rose to praise thee,” we shall have the Holy Trinity praised every third hour by the faithful.
165 The greatest and truest praise that can be conferred on anyone is to say they love God’s law; for if they love the law, they love him who gave the law; and if they love him, they love everything belonging to him; and thus, on their part, they have no enemy; but, as far as they are concerned, they are at peace with all. Again, “To them that love God all things work together unto good;” and, therefore, he that loves God should be at peace with all; and, therefore, the Apostle, Gal. 5, says, “The fruit of the spirit is, charity, joy, peace, etc.” By the same process of reasoning, “there is no stumbling block” to him “who loves thy law;” he runs on smoothly to his country, for he who loves the law cannot give scandal, scandal being a sin, and sin being a breach of the law; but scandal offered by others, either applies to the infirm, who, from their ignorance, look upon as forbidden what is not forbidden at all, and take offense at things they thought were illicit; or it is that of the Pharisees, who put a bad construction on what should have been viewed in quite a different light. But they “who love thy law” are neither infirm nor Pharisees, and, therefore, “to them there is no stumbling block.”
166 He now assumes the person of the perfect, and, therefore, confidently says, “I looked for thy salvation,” life everlasting, that is to come from you; and he assigns a reason for it, because “I loved thy commandments;” as the Apostle has it, “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me at that day.”
167 Speaking still in the person of the same perfect soul, he asserts that he kept the commandments by reason of his great love for them. For, as St. Gregory writes, “Love, when real, does wonders; and if it do not wonders, it is no love;” and our Lord himself has, “He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words.” And the Apostle, Rom. 15, “The love of the neighbor worketh no evil. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.”
168 Speaking again in the person of the perfect, he asserts that he kept the “commandments and the testimonies,” but from another motive, peculiar to the perfect, viz., because in all his actions he looked upon God to be then and there present, for such is the meaning of the words, “because all my ways are in thy sight;” that is to say, whatever I did was done as if your eyes were fixed on me, being fully satisfied of your seeing and knowing everything. Such thoughts have a wonderful effect in controlling men’s actions; for, if the presence of a prince of this world has the effect of preventing the subject from transgressing, nay, even more, of making them blush to be found lazy or careless, timid or fearful, what must not the effect be of having constantly before one’s eyes the presence of a heavenly and all powerful ruler? Hence the Lord said to Abraham, “Walk before me, and be perfect.” And Elias and Eliseus said, “The Lord liveth, in whose sight I stand.”
Tau
169 In this last section, fully aware of the value of perseverance in prayer, as the Lord himself afterwards impressed, he concludes by another prayer to God for the grace and salvation he had so frequently asked for before. “Let my supplication, O Lord, come near in thy sight;” that is to say, may my prayer, that does not rely on its own merits, be raised up and ascend, through the aspirations of your grace, and come so near you, that you may deign to take a nearer view of it, and regard it with favor; and that prayer is, “give me understanding according to thy word,” agreeable to the promise you made me in Psalm 31, “I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee.” Grant me the grace, therefore, of understanding your commandments, as they are understood by those who observe them, and who, by their observance, have come to life everlasting.
170 A repetition of the same prayer in different language. The words “deliver me” indicating his reason for having asked for understanding, for the object of understanding is, the being delivered from sin—“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
171 He now promises to return thanks on getting the grace he so often asked. “When thou shalt teach me thy justifications.” When your grace shall so enlighten and assist me to keep your commandments then, in the fulness of my inward joy, and in acknowledgment of so great a favor, “my lips shall utter a hymn” of praise and thanksgiving, because “from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
172 He says that he will not only praise God, but that he will teach mankind, and prove to them how full of justice are the commandments of God. “My tongue shall pronounce thy word.” I will announce your precepts to man, and I will teach them that “all thy commandments are justice,” that they are all based on justice; and it is, therefore, but just that they should be observed by all.
173 He follows up his prayer, asking for the only thing worth asking for, life everlasting, which is the object of the commandments. “Let thy hand be with me to save me.” Let your wisdom and power be exercised to save me; and as the Apostle teaches, that Christ is the power and wisdom of God, the fathers have very properly explained this prayer to be, “Let Christ be with me to save me:” “for I have chosen thy precepts.” He could not assign a better reason, Christ himself having said, “If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments.”
174 He assigns a reason for asking so pressingly for salvation; and that is, because he wishes for it above and beyond anything he ever desired, as it is really the only object worthy of such desire, it being the only thing that can effectually satisfy man’s desires. And, as it will not suffice to have a desire for salvation without observing the commandments of God, he, therefore, adds, “And thy law is my meditation,” I will always, therefore, think on it, and exercise myself in keeping it.
175 “My soul shall live,” when it shall have obtained the salvation it so longs for and “thy hand shall have been with it to save it;” and then its duty, and its only business, will be to praise you for “blessed are they who dwell in thy house, O Lord, they shall praise thee forever and ever,” “and thy judgments shall help me.” Your commandments, so observed by me, will help me, ultimately, when I shall rise in the resurrection to live forever.
176 Banished from my country, and still an exile, through the sin of my first parent, that extended to the whole human race, “I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost,” by seduction, and not like the devil, the roaring lion, who fell through malice. “Seek thy servant,” for though you have already partly sought and found him, inasmuch as you justified him from sin, and reconciled him to God; yet the lost sheep is still to be sought for, inasmuch as he expects the redemption of his body, so that he may body and soul be brought to the heavenly mountains, and those most fertile pastures, where the ninety-nine that did not stray had been left; and I confidently ask for this salvation of soul and body, “because I have not forgotten thy commandments.”